El Puerto de Santa Maria is a city full of history. If you chose to spend your holidays on its seaside, you shouldn’t miss a route of its historic center. Those who opted for enjoying their free time in Cadiz won’t regret taking a boat to El Puerto de Santa Maria either. At TUDESTINO we have compiled a short guide of the most beautiful monuments in the city.
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- The Castle of Saint Mark
- Church Mayor Prioral
- Aranibar Palace
- House of the Lions
- Caravel La Niña
- Royal Bullring
- Old Fish Market
- Las Galeras Fountain
- Convent of the Capuchin Nuns
- Phoenician Settlement Doña Blanca
A historic city
Located in the heart of the city, you will find theCastle of Saint Mark (Castillo de San Marcos), one of the symbols of El Puerto. The towers of the castle erected by Alfonso X the Wise offer impressive views of the entire city. In the interior of this Islamic gothic fort, you can visit an Arab mosque and its marvelous gardens. Used as a church until the 19th century, the Castle of Saint Mark today forms part of the Caballero Wine Cellars. This allows the tourists to end their visit to the castle with a tasting of the best local wines.
Another representative monument, situated in the high part of El Puerto de Santa Maria, is the Church Mayor Prioral (Iglesia Mayor Prioral). This majestic temple shows a mix of gothic, baroque and renaissance styles. You can take a guided visit of the church that conserves the medieval image of the patron saint of the city, Our Lady of Miracles
El Puerto is a city rich in religious architecture. Its old Convent of the Capuchin Nuns, now converted into a luxury hotel, was founded by nuns from the Santa Rosalia Convent of Seville and its interior has a lot in common with the Seville one.
The roots of the bullfighting tradition go deep in El Puerto de Santa Maria. Don’t leave the city without visiting its fascinating Royal Bullring. Just like it is written on its main entrance door: “If you haven’t seen bullfighting in El Puerto, you have no idea what a day at the bullring is”.
The entrance to El Puerto takes us back to the colonial times with a monument, replica of the Caravel La Niña. The new La Niña was built to mark Cristofer Columbus’ first journey to America, in honor of science and discovery.
El Puerto de Santa Maria was one of the important points in the colonial past of Spain. Those interested in this period can visit the mansions of the shippers to the Indies. El Puerto is known as the city of a hundred palaces. The most iconic one is the so-called Aranibar Palace. In the area of la Plaza de Abastos, you can also admire the House of the Lions or House of Placilla, another example of baroque beauty, unique amongst the mansions of El Puerto.
Las Galeras Fountain is another monument related to the expeditions to the Indies. This lovely fountain from the 18th century was built to beautify the city, but also to provide water to the fleet that set on the journey to the Indies.
We advise you to make a break in one of the bars and restaurants of this part of the city. Plaza de Abastos, also known as Plaza del Mercado is a place like no other for getting to feel the rhythm of the city.
In Plaza de la Pescaderia, we can see another important monument in the life of El Puerto – the Old Fish Market or El Resbaladero. In its day, this building had such an importance that it shared the square with the Town Hall building up until the end of the 19th century.
The tourists who want to learn about the more remote history of El Puerto de Santa Maria can visit the Phoenician archeological site of Doña Blanca. The Phoenician settlement found here is very well preserved and you can marvel at an entire city, as well as its defensive walls.
If you feel like exploring some more, check out our list of 10 must-see places in El Puerto de Santa Maria.